Google’s Android operating system, which was announced on the 5th of November 2007, is now seven years old.

Just in case you were busy with a few things back then, this is what happened on that day. The Open Handset Alliance announced that it has plans to work on an open source mobile OS. And Android, based on the Linux kernel version 2.6.25, was revealed as the first product. But it was only on October 22, 2008, that the first commercially available Android handset, the HTC Dream, was released.

Fast forward to the future and Android is now ruling the smartphone market. In the third quarter of 2014, 268 million Android-based smartphones were shipped and that has allowed the OS to acquire a market share of 84 percent (up from 81.4% in Q3 2013). Check out the numbers below.

But it’s surprising that Google is not celebrating the birth of its highly successful software. No posts on the blog, no tweets, and not even a Google doodle. Maybe the search giant is too busy with the marketing of the new Nexus devices and Android 5.0 Lollipop.

]]>http://www.mobilemag.com/2014/11/05/happy-birthday-android-november-5/feed/0“Hand of Thief” Trojan Invades Linux Computers, Steals Bannking Infohttp://www.mobilemag.com/2013/08/10/hand-of-thief-trojan/ http://www.mobilemag.com/2013/08/10/hand-of-thief-trojan/#commentsSat, 10 Aug 2013 18:00:49 +0000http://www.mobilemag.com/?p=152777A team of cyber-criminals from Russia have developed a Trojan for Linux and they're calling it the "Hand of Thief." As explained by security company RSA, the "Hand of Thief" malware is currently able to grab data from forms (both HTTP and HTTPS in a range of browsers) and it offers some backdoor capabilities

]]> Aside from those of us who dabbled in Linux during the early days of netbooks, I only know of a couple of people who actually use Linux on their desktop computers today. And it is largely because of this smaller demographic that hackers haven’t really targeted Linux for their viruses and malware… until now.

A team of cyber-criminals from Russia have developed a Trojan for Linux and they’re calling it the “Hand of Thief.” As explained by security company RSA, the “Hand of Thief” malware is currently able to grab data from forms (both HTTP and HTTPS in a range of browsers) and it offers some backdoor capabilities. Its “features” as a “full-blown banking malware” should continue to expand with future iterations.

If you’re thinking that one version of Linux is safer than another, you won’t be happy to hear that the hackers have apparently tested the Trojan on 15 different Linux desktop distributions and eight different environments. Whether you’re doing the Ubuntu thing or rocking the Fedora, you could be affected.

The developers of the Trojan didn’t do it just for fun. They have it up for sale through “closed cybercrime communities” for $2,000 and this price is expected to rise to $3,000 with an extra $550 for each major version release.

We will see smartphones running Tizen OS starting to hit the market in the coming months. The OS is backed by the Linux Foundation, Samsung, and Intel. Now it seems the chip maker has been busy developing the company’s own UI overlay, codenamed “Obsidian”, for Tizen. There is also talk that it could eventually be used on Android devices as well.

A leak has brought out pictures and videos which allow us to take a peek at Obsidian. The work on it is certainly not finished, but we can see some of its unique features.

As you will see in the video below, there’s slide-to-unlock on the lock screen and also “Life magazine” text. We saw the same thing on a Samsung reference Tizen device earlier. The apps are seen as boxy, closely-packed icons. It is similar to the flat designs of Windows Phone and Android (no iOS skeuomorphism here).

There will always be three buttons at the bottom of the screen: phone, messages and people. A single swipe left from the apps screen will take you to a single contact screen, and one more left swipe and you get to the contacts list. To alert notifications an app icon will be rotated 45 degrees and there will be a red notification at its bottom. Opening clock and settings or other apps will reveal a quick-view pane at the screen’s bottom with a button to fully open the app.

The Obsidian UI will reportedly run over Tizen 2.0 and the company’s reference device with the UI will be codenamed Josephine. But keep in mind that nothing is official at the moment.

]]>http://www.mobilemag.com/2013/06/10/intel-obsidian-ui-leaked-video/feed/1Ubuntu for Tablets Officially Unveiledhttp://www.mobilemag.com/2013/02/19/ubuntu-tablets-official/ http://www.mobilemag.com/2013/02/19/ubuntu-tablets-official/#commentsTue, 19 Feb 2013 16:23:25 +0000http://www.mobilemag.com/?p=145921Today Canonical unveiled their Ubuntu for tablets interface, and it looks every bit as intriguing as what they are attempting to do with Ubuntu for Phones.

Today Canonical unveiled their Ubuntu for tablets interface, and it looks every bit as intriguing as what they are attempting to do with Ubuntu for Phones.

The new UI is capable of supporting touch screens from 6-inches up to 20 and looks quite similar to Ubuntu for Phone. There are quite a few interesting features here, like the ability to run phone apps on the right side of the tablet while still running full tablet apps at the same time.

Multi-tasking certainly does look like a priority with Ubuntu for Phones and Tablets, something that personally I believe modern mobile platforms are largely lacking right now.

So when is it coming? Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be a specific vendor at the moment, or at least if there is Canonical isn’t yet ready to reveal them. While hardware partners are certainly needed for Ubuntu to take off in the tablet world, the good news is you don’t have to wait that long to try it out.

Both Ubuntu for phone and tablet will be available as a preview starting this Thursday. The phone version will work with the Galaxy Nexus or the Nexus 4. The tablet version is compatible with the Nexus 7 or Nexus 10.

While there is a lot more juicy features about this platform, I think it is best to just watch the official video and let it do the talking to give you a more hands-on look:

I’m personally excited by this one, though I have a feeling it will continue the Ubuntu tradition of being more of a niche product more than anything, despite Canonical’s attempts to take the platform into the mainstream. What do you think of Ubuntu for the tablet, interested or not?

]]>http://www.mobilemag.com/2013/02/19/ubuntu-tablets-official/feed/0Canonical Asks Community to Create 12 Default Ubuntu Phone Appshttp://www.mobilemag.com/2013/01/25/canonical-asks-community-to-create-12-default-ubuntu-phone-apps/ http://www.mobilemag.com/2013/01/25/canonical-asks-community-to-create-12-default-ubuntu-phone-apps/#commentsFri, 25 Jan 2013 14:37:48 +0000http://www.mobilemag.com/?p=144519The whole thing with Linux and Ubuntu is that it's supposed to be free and it's supposed to be supported by the community. The same kind of approach is now being taken by Canonical in its creation of the Ubuntu Phone OS, as they are turning to the development community to create the 12 default apps for the upcoming smartphone platform.

]]> The whole thing with Linux and Ubuntu is that it’s supposed to be free and it’s supposed to be supported by the community. The same kind of approach is now being taken by Canonical in its creation of the Ubuntu Phone OS, as they are turning to the development community to create the 12 default apps for the upcoming smartphone platform.

You know how when you get an Android, Windows Phone, iPhone or whatever else that it comes pre-populated with some basic apps? Someone has to make those. With Ubuntu Phone OS, Canonical is asking the Ubuntu Phone OS community to chip in, which is a departure from the earlier situation where Canonical was criticized for “an alleged closed doors approach to development.”

There are 12 core apps that will ship with the phone: calendar, clock, weather, calculator, email, RSS, file manager, document viewer, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Terminal and account manager. Canonical has already reached out for programming volunteers, but they are still looking for design suggestions for the apps themselves. In a sense, this is a crowdsourcing project.

If you feel like chipping in, then you can head over to the CoreApps page on the Ubuntu wiki, click on the app you want to work on, and contribute to the wiki.

]]>http://www.mobilemag.com/2013/01/25/canonical-asks-community-to-create-12-default-ubuntu-phone-apps/feed/0Ubuntu Phone OS Image for Galaxy Nexus Set to Arrive Late Februaryhttp://www.mobilemag.com/2013/01/08/ubuntu-phone-os-image-for-galaxy-nexus-set-to-arrive-late-february/ http://www.mobilemag.com/2013/01/08/ubuntu-phone-os-image-for-galaxy-nexus-set-to-arrive-late-february/#commentsTue, 08 Jan 2013 19:46:02 +0000http://www.mobilemag.com/?p=143731Last week we introduced to you the Ubuntu phone OS, and that has left us yearning for the ability to test drive it for ourselves.

Last week we introduced to you the Ubuntu phone OS, and that has left us yearning for the ability to test drive it for ourselves.

The good news is that Alan Pope, engineering manager on the product, has now confirmed a version of the Ubuntu phone OS will be released for the Galaxy Nexus in late February for those brave enough to give it a go.

Hopefully with this limited release there will be enough hype created to force at least a few app makers to consider crafting apps to the OS. This will also give Canonical a chance to work out any early bugs in the OS.

It’s hard to know exactly what we will be in store for us with Ubuntu OS, but the possibilities for those wanting an easy-to-tinker open OS could be endless. At any rate, having Linux distro in the palm of your hands is an exciting prospect and one that could open a lot of possibilities beyond the normal Android based handsets. Just don’t expect many (if hardly any) apps to work with your Ubuntu-running Galaxy Nexus when it first arrives.

As for commercial Ubuntu phone hardware? We are probably still looking at nearly a year before such hardware arrives.

]]>http://www.mobilemag.com/2013/01/08/ubuntu-phone-os-image-for-galaxy-nexus-set-to-arrive-late-february/feed/0Canonical Unveils Ubuntu Phone OS, Plans to Show It Off At CEShttp://www.mobilemag.com/2013/01/02/canonical-unveils-ubuntu-phone-os-plans-to-show-it-off-at-ces/ http://www.mobilemag.com/2013/01/02/canonical-unveils-ubuntu-phone-os-plans-to-show-it-off-at-ces/#commentsWed, 02 Jan 2013 20:33:32 +0000http://www.mobilemag.com/?p=143444Yesterday we reported that Canonical had a count-down to a new version/feature for Ubuntu. The banner hinted that the news had something to do with touch. Now we have official word, the news is that they will be showing off their Ubuntu phone OS at CES 2013.

Yesterday we reported that Canonical had a count-down to a new version/feature for Ubuntu. The banner hinted that the news had something to do with touch. Now we have official word, the news is that they will be showing off their Ubuntu phone OS at CES 2013.

Before you get too excited, they might showing off the device to entice developer interest, but they have already confirmed the first full-fledged Ubuntu devices won’t be making their way to the market until early 2014.

The Ubuntu phone OS promises that it will be highly compatible with Android devices, so hardware/phone makers won’t have to do very much to make versions of their hardware that run on Canonical’s mobile OS. The company also promises that the device will be build around the existing Android kernel and drivers, but won’t use a Java Virtual machine, and that means it will allow the OS to use “the full power of the phone” as they say.

Canonical’s chief Mark Shuttleworth says that “Ubuntu for Android” will be their first step towards truly entering into the mobile world. This special version will run on existing Ubuntu devices alongside Android, and will arrive sometime later this year. By 2014, they will have a true/full Ubuntu phone and promise it should be by a high-end Android device maker.

For now, the official developer phone for Ubuntu phone OS is the Galaxy Nexus, which tends to be a favorite for this kind of project, as even Firefox OS utilizes the G-Nexus for testing.

So what kind of special features does Canonical bring to the table? Canonical says that swiping in from the four different edges of the screen will let users switch apps and search for content, they say thumb gestures in general will play a big roll in navigation. Ubuntu hopes to provide a design that is quite a bit different from the competition and claims it will be able to handle multitasking at a level that other mobile operating systems can’t.

]]>http://www.mobilemag.com/2013/01/02/canonical-unveils-ubuntu-phone-os-plans-to-show-it-off-at-ces/feed/0Canonical Begins Countdown to New Touch Features for Ubuntuhttp://www.mobilemag.com/2013/01/01/canonical-begins-countdown-to-new-touch-features-for-ubuntu/ http://www.mobilemag.com/2013/01/01/canonical-begins-countdown-to-new-touch-features-for-ubuntu/#commentsTue, 01 Jan 2013 17:43:23 +0000http://www.mobilemag.com/?p=143391There tends to be varying opinions about what Canonical has done in the Linux world over the last few years. Some users love the easier to use and more “pretty” design of Unity, the UI behind the popular Ubuntu OS. Others hate what Ubuntu has become with a passion.

There tends to be varying opinions about what Canonical has done in the Linux world over the last few years. Some users love the easier to use and more “pretty” design of Unity, the UI behind the popular Ubuntu OS. Others hate what Ubuntu has become with a passion.

Still, you have to at least give Canonical a little credit for turning Linux into a more mainstream OS in the last few years. While it is still certainly a niche, Ubuntu has appealed to many folks that don’t want spend the money on Apple’s premium hardware/software and are burned out when it comes to Windows.

Going forward, it seems that Ubuntu has many more changes in store. The Ubuntu homepage now prominently displays a banner that says, “So close, you can almost touch it” and is counting down to 8AM ET on Wednesday, January 2nd. More than likely, this pre-CES announcement will show what Ubuntu can bring to the table for mobile devices and even touch desktops and laptops.

For a long time, Canonical has been planning a push into mobile devices, so this isn’t all that surprising. What exactly these touch features and changes look like remain a mystery, however.

Don’t be surprised if at least a few devices at CES that utilize this touch-centric version of Ubuntu. Are you interested in the idea of a mobile/touch experience powered by Ubuntu or not?

]]>http://www.mobilemag.com/2013/01/01/canonical-begins-countdown-to-new-touch-features-for-ubuntu/feed/0Raspberry Pi Gets An App Store of its Ownhttp://www.mobilemag.com/2012/12/17/raspberry-pi-app-store/ http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/12/17/raspberry-pi-app-store/#commentsMon, 17 Dec 2012 13:55:42 +0000http://www.mobilemag.com/?p=142573App Stores are where it is at. Google has one, Apple has two, so does Microsoft. Even Firefox has a marketplace. Now the ultra-small Raspberry Pi motherboard kit has one too.

App Stores are where it is at. Google has one, Apple has two, so does Microsoft. Even Firefox has a marketplace. Now the ultra-small Raspberry Pi motherboard kit has one too.

The Pi Store is accessible both from the web or as a special app for Raspbian. At the moment there isn’t much there, with just 23 free apps. The team behind the Store effort is hoping it will grow as a resource for developers and consumers in order to make the already extremely flexible ARM computer even more useful.

For developers, there is even a way to charge for apps via the store, and there is a “tip jar” ability that lets users donate money towards developer’s app efforts even if they are technically marked as free.

Newer builds of Raspbian will have the Pi Store included, but those rocking an older version will need to manually install the Pi Store application.

]]>http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/12/17/raspberry-pi-app-store/feed/0Dell Unveils Powerful Linux Ultrabook for $1,449http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/12/01/dell-linux-ultrabook-for-1449/ http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/12/01/dell-linux-ultrabook-for-1449/#commentsSat, 01 Dec 2012 14:09:29 +0000http://www.mobilemag.com/?p=141466Earlier in 2012, Dell announced Project Sputnik. The main goal of the project was to build a great Linux laptop out of Dell's XPS13 Ultrabook with Ubuntu 12.04.

Earlier in 2012, Dell announced Project Sputnik. The main goal of the project was to build a great Linux laptop out of Dell’s XPS13 Ultrabook with Ubuntu 12.04.

Yesterday, Dell came forward announcing the Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition. The specs are above predicted and are as follows:

3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3517U (4M Cache, up to 3.0 GHz)

UBUNTU Linux 12.04

13.3″ HD 720p

8GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz

256GB Solid State Drive

Intel HD 4000

1366×768 display resolution

Immediately, the only way to judge this computer is to compare it to the 13″ Macbook with Retina. The XPS 13 measures 6 mm (0.24″) at its thinnest point and only 18 mm (0.71″) at its thickest point.

On the other hand, the 13″ Macbook registers at 19mm (0.75″). Although the screen resolution does not equal the Macbook’s 2560-by-1600, the price is less than the starting price of the Macbook ($1,699.00) and it comes standard with double the storage and an i7 instead of an i5.

As for the software, Dell has reportedly worked extremely hard to ensure that quality drivers are available for all of the laptop’s hardware. Additionally, the XPS 13 comes standard with Ubuntu 12.04LTS, a group of developer tools and utilities, and two beta projects: the cloud launcher and the profile tool.

What do you think of the Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition, does it stack up against the competition?